Benjamin Watkins LEIGH

(1781-1849)

Senate Years of Service:

1834-1836

Party:

Anti-Jacksonian;
Whig

LEIGH, Benjamin Watkins, a
Senator from Virginia; born in Chesterfield County, Va., on June
18, 1781; studied under private tutors; graduated from William and
Mary College, Williamsburg, Va., in 1802; studied law; admitted to
the bar and commenced practice in Petersburg, Va.; served in the
War of 1812; member, State house of delegates 1811-1813; moved to
Richmond, Va., in 1813; prepared the revised code of 1810; delegate
to the State constitutional convention of 1829 and 1830; member,
State house of delegates 1830-1831; official reporter of the State
court of appeals 1829-1841; elected as an Anti-Jacksonian (later
Whig) to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy in the term
ending March 3, 1835, caused by the resignation of William C.
Rives; reelected in 1835 and served from February 26, 1834, to July
4, 1836, when he resigned; resumed the practice of law; died in
Richmond, Va., February 2, 1849; interment in Shockoe Cemetery.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Hall, Cline Edwin.
“The Political Life of Benjamin Watkins Leigh.”
Master’s thesis, University of Richmond, 1959; Macfarland,
William H. An Address on the Life, Character, and Public
Services of the Late Hon. Benjamin Watkins Leigh. Richmond:
Macfarlane and Fergusson, 1851.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present